The Debt
by Cochrane
Summary: The head of Beelzebub's own army has appeared, and he has arrested Oga. It's up to Hilda to save him… if she even wants to, that is.
1. Abduction

_Author's note: Thank you for the great feedback on my first Beelzebub story! It was so much fun reading your opinions and talking with you that I decided to write another one. This one will be longer than the first and explore some different ideas. I hope you'll like it!_

_Note to my little sister, who has just started watching the Beelzebub anime: This includes spoilers right through the end of the anime. So maybe don't read it just yet._

* * *

It was a lazy, boring day at the Tatsumi household. The parents were away with Misaki, so Hilda, Beelzebub and Tatsumi were left alone at the home, watching reruns of Gohan-Kun. Not that Hilda minded. There was nothing near as adorable as her young master, engrossed in the story, screaming for the hero and threatening and shaking his tiny fist at the evil Baron von Poop. And even though she would never ever admit it to his face, it was kind of cute to see Tatsumi holding the Young Master, just as much into the action on the TV as the baby. She couldn't help but smile a little.

"Oy, why're you smiling? It's creeping me out," said the delinquent suddenly. "Shouldn't you be angry that Baby Beel likes the hero more than the baddie?"

"Why?" said Hilda simply, her smile gone as quickly as it came. After all, she had a reputation to maintain.

"Well… I don't know. Shouldn't he learn how to be evil? He's a demon, after all!"

"Just because we demons are evil does not mean we are bad people, you rat."

"Huh?"

Hilda sighed. Could she explain the intricacies of the Codex Gorsalokel to him, so he would better understand how a demon was supposed to behave? Probably not. He'd just get it all wrong. She had to find something simpler, something he could relate to… wait, that wasn't all that hard, was it?

"It's just like you. You do not care for other people in general, and fools standing in your way will meet a gruesome end. But that does not mean you don't have friends or family that you care for."

"Like hell I do," replied Tatsumi, but without feeling. With all the underlings he'd acquired lately, it would be hard for him to deny it properly. Sometimes Hilda wondered whether he noticed the changes in him. By her observation, against all odds, becoming the father of the son of the Great Demon King had actually made him nicer.

"And I'm not like that Demon King. I don't want to destroy your world."

"Are you sure about that? Is it not annoying and in the way? Would you not try to destroy it if you weren't a pathetic worm, unworthy of ever even seeing the magnificent palace of terror in the…"

"Yeah, I get it," said Tatsumi to Hilda's dismay. She did not like being cut off. "Good point actually."

That worried her. Had she just given him a really, really bad idea? No human being could single-handedly destroy the demon world… but then, she had thought the same about Ishiyama High, too. He noticed her uneasiness.

"Don't worry, I won't blow up your home as long as the demon king doesn't blow up mine. Deal?"

Hilda nodded. "We have an understanding, then."

They shook hands, and the young master agreed with an enthusiastic "Daah!". Then they returned to watching.

She was not sure why she agreed. By all laws, she should have killed Tatsumi right then and there. No, she should have killed him even earlier, back when he announced that he would not destroy the human world after all. But could she even do it?

First of all, Hilda was by no means sure that she could beat him in a fight, especially if the Young Master was on his side, which he probably would be. Even if she succeeded, the Young Master would hate her for the rest of his life. There was also the fact that she had grown to respect Tatsumi a lot, and really did not want him to die all that much anymore. But finally, and most confusingly, when he had mentioned her home right now, the images in her head hadn't been of the demon world at all.

Suddenly, a low grumbling filled the room. The sky darkened, and lightnings began to flash. Tatsumi looked accusingly at the young master.

"Is that you, Baby Beel?"

The Young Master looked back at him and held up his hands. He had no idea either. Tatsumi turned to Hilda, but she was clueless, too. All she had were a few theories, each more unpleasant than the last. It would at least not be a bad idea to be cautious. She whispered, "Better get ready to fight…"

The lightnings intensified and ended with a loud bang that spread smoke everywhere. When it lifted, a strange figure was standing in the remains of what had been the TV.

"Howdy, partners, what's up, y'all!"

Tatsumi looked at the figure, then at Hilda, then at the figure again, then at the young master and finally back to Hilda.

"Do you know this punk?" he asked, confused.

Of course she did. The man was tall, dressed in a blue coat that gave him a naval sort of look. The heavy boots looked more like from a western movie, though. And the head… well, there was no head. Hilda had never known whether the head went missing at some point or he never had one. In its place was a cloud of steam that came from the end of the neck. Two holes and a bent line in it formed a make-shift face, always smiling. There were not a lot of demons of his kind, and only one with the dress sense and, most importantly, a reason to visit them.

"This is Akephalos. He is the head officer of Akephalos's Wild Hunt, and before you ask, yes, he did choose that title only for the pun."

Akephalos affected a posture as if she had ran a sword through his rump. Part of her wanted to compare how it would look like if she really did this.

"Aww, Hilda, darling, you keep breaking my heart. Why are you so mean to me? Did I ever do anything to you? You're still as pretty as a flower, by the way. Ah, if it ain't the Young Master. And you must be his contractor!"

He turned to face a completely bewildered Tatsumi and shook his hand. Beelzebub just stared in wonder at the weird character.

"Wait, so Beelzebub is your master, and you're some sort of commander… is that like with En and Balthasar's something-squad of whatever? I always wondered why Baby Beel didn't have anything like that…"

"The Young Master does not need an army of his own," said Hilda with a little smile. "As his contractor, you are the equivalent of an entire demonic army. The Great Demon Lord has recognized this and thus fired this slime bag."

If Tatsumi noticed her hostility towards Akephalos, he didn't comment on it. Instead, he simply said, "What happens if I punch him in the face?"

"Ain't nobody still alive who ever tried that, boy, but I'd sure like to give you a taste," said Akephalos, clearly enjoying himself. "But we ain't got time for that right now, seeing as I'm on a mission for the demon king himself. Now, you just confirmed that you won't follow his royal highness's orders, right? For this reason, partner, I'm placing you under arrest."

"Better punch him in the gut then, right, Hilda?" said Tatsumi, unimpressed. She was inclined to agree with him, but this was demon politics, and the ground was filled with people who had taken it lightly.

"Wait a moment. Akephalos, you are attacking the freedom of a contractor of the royal family. This is illegal without authorization from the Great Demon King himself. As the representative of the royal family on this plane, I demand you show me this authorization now or leave immediately!"

"Sweetheart, why'd you have to be so formal? Yes, he didn't do any of that authorizing business, and he technically doesn't know that this is happening. But you and I both know that once the execution is over, it's just a matter of telling the story right. In the end, the Great Demon King will think it was his idea all along. So don't give me any of that legalese…" - he dropped his voice - "bitch."

Hilda turned to Tatsumi. "The chest, his left. He's got an old wound there. Hit it good."

Tatsumi smiled a smile that only a demon would ever call pleasant. "Oy, Ake…thingy, you don't get to call her bitch! What say you, Baby Beel?"

"Aaahh-uuuhh!"

"Then let's go! Zebul Blaa… huh?"

The punch was thrown with all the young master's magic behind it. But shortly before Tatsumi's fist hit Akephalos, the magic seemed to… stop somehow. One second, the red glow was there, and then it wasn't. Tatsumi still hit him, but the demon just let out a short "Uff".

Tatsumi looked at his hand in wonder, then showed it first to Beelzebub and then to Hilda. The Zebul spell was gone. Akephalos began to laugh.

"You've got a mean swing, brother! But it ain't gonna help you here. You see, I've got some special tricks in store for contractors. Right now, your link with the young master is cut, and that means…"

Akephalos punched Tatsumi right in the stomach. Hilda saw it almost as if it was in slow motion: Tatsumi being thrown off his feet. Spitting a little blood. Flying through the air. Hitting the wall. An unhealthy crack. The loud thud of the landing. She was in shock.

"Dabii?" said the Young Master, with tears in his eyes. That brought her back. She drew her sword and began to engage Akephalos, but he just laughed. Suddenly, she felt something around her wrists.

"Oh, darlin', you shouldn't let your guard down like that. Caught by demon ropes like a preschooler, seriously."

Hilda pulled, but she knew it was hopeless. Demon ropes were mass produced and not all that great weapons, but against an unsuspecting opponent, they could be very useful. All because she had thought a little too long about Tatsumi.

"You know I'll be out of here in five minutes," she said, scowling. "And I'm better than I was during our last fight."

"Don't I know it. But in five minutes, I'll be long gone. I'd take you with me, but my transfer demon isn't as great as he once was, sweetheart. The trial is in a week in the market place. If you want, come, and bring the young master. He likes you, and my… partners would like you to care for him once he's back under our control, where he belongs."

"…and if I refuse?"

"Hilda, sweetheart, like you even need to ask! Now listen good."

He moved closer to her and began to whisper.

"You bitch have a lot of enemies. So many proud demon families got to see their sons serve the future demon king. And then, all of a sudden, the only one that gets all the fame is you and some farm boy?"

"This is not a farm, idiot," she said.

"Oh, but they're all farm boys and ranch hands and what have you in their hearts, right? Ordinary guys, surprisingly good at something, but living an ordinary, human life, until magic enters their world, and then they're the hero. It's all very nice and poetic. That reminds me, are you two guys doing it a lot?"

"I will kill you, and everyone who looks like you," she hissed through clenched teeth, but he ignored her.

"Nah, you're not at that part of the story yet. I bet you will, though, in the end, unless someone stops you. And that someone's gonna be me. You don't hear about nine out of ten farm boys, because guys like me kill them, and that's gonna happen here again, so you gotta think about where this leaves you. Now, I'll ignore all these your on account of me being a nice guy and you being surprised and all. But the next time we meet, you better be a whole lot nicer, sweetheart. You're not irreplaceable. We'll find you and the young master, you know we will, and when I start your trial and say you worked together with that punk against the Great Demon King, it'll not even be a lie. Just something to consider. Ta ta!"

He touched Tatsumi and, with another blinding flash, was gone. Beelzebub was sitting, astonished and about to cry any minute now. The room was destroyed, the glass door gone and the TV in pieces. There was a bit of Tatsumi's blood on the floor. And she was still wrapped up. There was only one thought on her mind.

"Holy shít."

* * *

_Woohoo! This story has been a long time in the making, but I think I've finally figured it out, or at least the big things. I know it's rather vague right now, but expect intrigues, daring rescues and heroics, Beelzebub's inner-most thoughts, weirdness and possibly oil rigs in the demon world. That last one is because I just started watching the new Dallas, and it's awesome._

_As always, I'd love to read your reviews! I got a lot of good points from the ones on my previous story, and I guarantee that I'll reply to all reviews that were not posted anonymously._


	2. Recruiting

_Author's Note: Beelzebub is my new favorite fandom, because there are so many nice people here. Thank you for all the reviews and such! This chapter is still mostly set-up._

* * *

Furuichi was at his wit's end. He had tried absolutely everything: Misdirections, subtle hints, Feng Shui and a series of plain lies about where he would be this evening. But none of it had any effect. Alaindelon was still in the bathtub with him, and no amount of freaking out was going to get him out.

He was halfway through yet another tirade about how the old man should please leave when he heard a knocking on the window. Who could it be? His thoughts first turned to Hilda-Sama, then Queen Kunieda, then, considering his luck, Alaindelon, then, considering who was in the bathtub, Alaindelon's twin brother. Or possibly all members of the Ishiyama High special class.

The person knocked again, stronger this time. He grumbled "I'm coming!" and threw a towel around his waist. Then he opened the window. Oddly enough, the person outside was actually Hilda, but not the sultry, almost-naked version of his dreams. Instead, she was wearing her usual clothes and had Beelzebub with her. A quick look around confirmed that Oga wasn't around, though. She also had Oga's old bicycle with her, which was even more weird. And she had her sword at his throat, which was sadly all too common.

"You idiot!" she shouted as a greeting. "This is no time to fool around in baths. We have a crisis, and nobody here answers their phone. Akubaba is out hunting, so I had to ride over here myself. This is absolutely unacceptable. You two do not deserve the honor of serving the young master!"

"No, Hilda, this isn't… we aren't…" Furuichi said almost on pure instinct, before his brain started to kick in. "Wait, what crisis? What happened?"

* * *

"Dabu."

Kaiser de Emperana Beelzebub IV was agitated and bored, a volatile combination that his Mommy and Daddy usually tried to avoid. But right now, Mommy was busy explaining what happened to the Creepy Uncle and the Splitting Uncle, and Daddy… Daddy had been hurt real bad by the weird-head-man and then taken away and also the link was cut and he interrupted Gohan-kun… It was to cry for, and Beelzebub had cried a lot already. But Mommy had said that Daddy would not cry here. Instead, he would try to fix it. That had shut Beelzebub up. He always wanted to be like Daddy when he grew up, and he was fairly certain that Daddy didn't have any tears inside him. Anyway, why were these people taking so long?

"What are you going to do now?" asked Splitting Uncle when Mommy had finished her tale. "It might not be unwise to accept Akephalos's offer."

"No way. The Young Master and I are going to save him," said Mommy quietly. "The Young Master would not allow anything less."

"Dabuuh!" Mommy had got it right here. They were going to save Daddy! That was a royal decree! Unless his other theory was right, and a royal decree was actually a kind of bug. Beelzebub wasn't certain on this part.

"I see," said Splitting Uncle. "But you realize the dangers, of course, both to your life and the Young Master's. Your duty is not to Oga Tatsumi, but to the son of the Great Demon King."

"Don't you think I know that!" snapped Mommy.

"Then why are you so insistent on going? It can't be just because it is the Young Master's wish. I need to know the real reasons if I am going to bring Takayuki into danger."

"Wait, what? I never agreed to this! Oga can die for all I care!" shouted Creepy Uncle. This deserved punishment. Beelzebub punched him with all his royal might. He was not sure whether Creepy Uncle had noticed, though.

Meanwhile, Mommy looked at the ground, the way Beelzebub did when he did not want to explain why half her croquettes had landed under the table when she wasn't looking.

"I'm in his debt. He saved me three times already when I was in trouble, even though I told him not to. Then he took care of me when I lost my memories… What kind of example would I set for the Young Master if I did not honor this debt?"

"I see. Then you have my full strength at your disposal, of course," said Splitting Uncle. "As well as Takayuki's intellect…"

"Hey, I still did not agree!" shouted Creepy Uncle, but Beelzebub and everyone else just ignored him. Splitting Uncle continued.

"…but the task you have set for yourself is a difficult one. Lamia and Angelica will be glad to assist, but they are no fighters. You will need more allies, and you can find some of them right here."

Hm, more allies? Beelzebub could maybe ask Kouta. He was pretty strong for a baby.

"I know," said Mommy. "I think Saotome could be helpful, but I do not know where his loyalty lies. Tojo is able to beat demons without contractors in the human world, but it will take more than that to win back in the demon world."

Who else? Cat probably still owed him one, but he really wasn't that good at fighting. He had the look down, but against demon cats, that might not help much. Also, Beelzebub had no idea where to search for him.

"Do you have a particular reason for leaving out Kunieda Aoi? She is strong, has a demon pact, and she would be willing to help right away," said Splitting Uncle.

Futaba was very strong and independent. She could definitely take down a demon. But she made Beelzebub always feel uncomfortable, as if he should be wearing clothes or something.

"…Yes. Kunieda is definitely a capable fighter," said Mommy with some hesitation. "But working together with that woman…"

If only there was some way to call Gohan-kun. He would know what to do!

Out of the corner of his eye, Beelzebub saw that Creepy Uncle wanted to say something. Then Creepy Uncle looked at Mommy's pink umbrella and backed away again. He repeated the cycle three times while Mommy looked lost in thought. It was kind of funny.

"Ay-bu!"

Suddenly, Creepy Uncle turned towards him instead of Mommy. Had he just realized who was the most important person in the room?

"I see, Baby Beel. So you want to be the hero, right?"

"Bu?" Beelzebub had said nothing to that effect. But then, humans, demons and really anyone larger than him were always slow to understand what he meant. Still, he did really want to be the hero. "Daa!"

"Exactly. He's your father, and you love him very much, and when he says 'good job', you want him to say it to you, not to anyone else."

"Ahh-ehh!" Creepy Uncle was right. It was his daddy, and nobody else's. Well, it would be okay if Daddy said 'good job' to Mommy, too. But there was a problem. "Daah…"

"Yes, I know. The big demons are really, really scary, and you can't defeat them on your own. If you try…"

"Dabudabu…" That was a scary thought. Beelzebub knew of himself that he was important and powerful, but he also had a strong suspicion that he was edible.

"So what is more important to you, Baby Beel? That you do it alone, or that Daddy gets saved?"

"Dabba! Dabba!" What a stupid question. His father was way more important than his pride. And why was Creepy Uncle telling him all that? Mommy was the chief of this operation. She was way smarter than Beelzebub or anyone else in the whole wide worlds (both of them), so she definitely knew all this already. He looked to her in confirmation.

"Maa-baa!"

She looked down at him, thought for a second, and finally nodded.

"Young Master, Alaindelon, Creepichi, get ready. We're going to visit Kunieda."

* * *

You'd think that living in a temple all your life would make you prepared, an expert even, for when the unexpected and supernatural happened. Aoi had thought so for the longest time, right until the moment the supernatural actually did enter her world. Now she had to deal with a small god that was basically just a dirty old man, and right the two of them were serving tea for three demons and a human right on hallowed ground. If either the demons or the god had a problem with this, they hadn't bothered to tell her. But what she really would never have expected was that none of this was her greatest concern at the moment.

"Ye…yes, of course I will help to save Oga," she stammered, trying her best not to blush. "But do you even have a plan?"

"We will go to the demon world and kill all that oppose us!" said Alaindelon. "They will rue the day they became enemies of Takayuki's allies!"

"Daabuh!" said Beelzebub, fully convinced that this was a workable strategy.

"We are still working on the details," said Hilda, while Furuichi began to scream at the old man. "But Alaindelon is correct on the basics."

"That… that is not really a plan at all," said Aoi. "Furuichi, everyone calls you the strategist. Don't you have anything better?"

"Waaah, even you call me the… wait, even you call me the…? Erm, yes, of course, there is a masterful plan, involving… planning things. And such! But right now I can't talk about it, because it is too secret."

"Oh, Takayuki, I knew I could rely on you!" said Alaindelon with tears in his eyes. Aoi, however, had doubts. When and where could he tell them what the plan was, if not here and now? Koma tried to say something, but after some… events, he had been wrapped up very, very tightly by Hilda and herself together. Aoi did not ever want to get arrested by the demon woman.

"Well… do you have any weapons? Supplies? Things like that? I mean, if you try to buy them in the demon world, won't Akephalos notice?"

"Please. We are not morons," said Hilda. On cue, they all showed their recent purchases for the expedition. Furuichi had a crossbow, complete with a set of shrink-wrapped arrows and a book "Crossbows for dummies". Alaindelon split to reveal an entire shopping cart filled with baking supplies. Hilda had brought shuriken and kunai, and for some reason headbands with shiny metal plates. The only one with anything remotely sensible was Beelzebub, clutching a first-aid kit as if it were the secret to eternal life… or more likely a ticket to the Gohan-Kun movie.

Aoi sighed. Having to work with those idiots was just priceless. It took them the better part of another hour to sort out the details. First they had to buy useful food, after Furuichi and, oddly enough, Beelzebub, had insisted that they did not want to rely on demonic cooking by Hilda. Then they had to convince Alaindelon that this was not an offense to him, and further, that yes, baking soda might help build some sort of a bomb, but glazing most definitely wouldn't. They were all exhausted by the end of it.

"So what are we facing anyway?" asked Kunieda. "Why has Akephalos abducted Oga now instead of earlier?"

"I wish I knew," said Hilda. "I guess it helps that En-sama is still in the human world and the Great Demon King is away on a tour through the biggest demonic beasts in the realm."

"Wait, literally through the beasts?" asked Furuichi, with a disgusted look on his face. Aoi shared the feeling, but she had a vague feeling that pressing the matter would not lead to happiness.

"But Akephalos is not one who makes plans like that on his own. He all but said that there was someone else behind him. I have a few suspicions, but there are too many clans and individuals that all want their share of power."

"Dabbas!" shouted Beel-chan enthusiastically.

"Yes, Young Master, it would indeed make for a good TV show!" replied Hilda. "But we are a part of it now."

"So we need to some research once we are in the demon world," said Aoi, trying desperately to draw up some sketch of a plan in her head. "Oh, by the way, how do we even get there? Isn't there something about a weight limit?"

A while time ago, Oga had explained some of the basics of demons and their world to her. Back then, she was happy as a clam that he was talking to her at all, but looking back, it was obvious that he had never really listened when it had been explained to him, and he hadn't got any idea how to explain it to anyone else either. Koma, meanwhile, had only third-hand accounts of some ancestor who had visited once.

"You've been talking with Oga about his past adventures?" asked Hilda. Did Aoi just imagine it, or was her voice colder than usual? For a second, she was paralyzed trying to figure out how she should answer. Was it either "What about it, bitch?" or "No, no, no, no, no, you got it all wrong, what I meant was…"? Luckily, Furuichi jumped in.

"Kunieda is right. I do not want to end up in Vlad's Haunt again!"

"Daabuh!"

"Don't act so tough, Baby Beel. That was really scary."

"Allow me to explain," said Alaindelon. "It is true that we had a little mishap on this trip. The reason for this was only the misalignment of weight and the destination right inside the capital. By choosing a suitable point more in the outskirts, taking into account the energy flow patterns, it will be possible transfer all of us safely."

Without warning, he put his hands to his chest and pulled himself open, revealing a blue vortex of vast emptiness. It was almost hypnotic.

"We are going to Stolenburg," added Hilda. "It is a place where the people know not to ask any questions, and don't mind if we kill all those who don't. It is dangerous there, especially for humans, so keep your sword at the ready. If that is all…"

It most definitely was not all, but before Aoi could even begin to argue, she and Koma were pulled off their feet and into the maelstrom.

* * *

_Aoi or no Aoi? It's a question I've been wondering about even after this chapter was finished, mostly because I ship OgaXHilda and plan to at least strongly hint at that in this story. But that pairing is no reason to hate on the poor little Queen, and in a dangerous situation like this, a capable fighter and loyal friend like her definitely comes in handy. Yes, her presence causes trouble for any development between Oga and Hilda, but this trouble would be there anyway, and I think it could be quite fun to write. Of course, she isn't the only additional fighter possible, but I find the others too boring._

_The next chapter is going to take a bit longer, because I'm planning to change large parts of it (it's about 2/3rds finished, but there's a whole city in there that I'm going to merge with the capital. It just doesn't serve a useful purpose). After that, I'm aiming for about one chapter per week, maybe two if I have the time, but that's not guaranteed or incredibly likely._


	3. Jailhouse Rock

Aoi loved her grandfather, but she still made it a point that she was independent of him. He was a great trainer, but he would never be allowed to interfere in her fights. That was simply her pride. Right now, however, she thought that she should have brought him along. Not so much for combat support, but mostly because the scene around them needed an old man with a white beard, mumbling something about a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

"Daah-dibay!" said Beelzebub, possibly expressing the same idea.

"Indeed, young master," said Hilda. "This place is full of pickpockets, smugglers, assassin, death cultists and worse." She chuckled a little. "Oga would like it here."

Something inside Aoi began to boil. How did Hilda have the right to talk so familiar about him? On the other hand, Oga would indeed like it here. All Ishiyama High students would like it here. Even she liked it a bit herself.

The place was full of demonic graffiti, which was mostly just as pointless as human graffiti, but looked absolutely terrifying. Most windows were broken; in some of them old newspapers tried to act as a replacement. There were surprisingly many stores. Some sold weapons, others sold food that didn't look just unhealthy, but actively malicious. There was a demonic clothes cleaning ("Removing bloodstains while you wait!"), a demonic clothes and armor store, a demonic mattress store, a demonic travel agency and a Starbucks.

They were not interested in any of that, however. Their goal was the local bar. It was an impressive sight with its giant neon lights, each with a different name. Some of them seemed to be broken, slowly leaking the light in big, colorful drops onto the sidewalk. Aoi's school education was maybe not the best in all of Japan, but she had a feeling that neon lights weren't supposed to do that.

"Now remember," said Hilda, checking the sword in her umbrella, "this bar attracts odd people. It has a legendary status within the demon world. It is ideal for any shady dealings, but also odd. Some say that anything that can happen in a bar at all will happen in this one."

While she spoke, the doors opened, and a white-haired man with a scar along his face flew out. He landed on the street with a nasty thud. Aoi was worried for a moment, but the man was unimpressed. Before she could check whether he was fine, he got up, shouted "That's a man!" and ran right back inside.

Hilda nodded her head at the figure and said, "like that."

* * *

Like any demon, Alaindelon had heard of the bar, but it was not a place he had previously visited. Under different circumstances, he would have protested against going here, and instead taken his Takayuchi to a nice tea house, but this was a crisis, and they were called upon to fight.

The bar had no name; you were free to call it whatever you chose. Rumor had it that the owner did this to avoid paying taxes. Other rumors claimed that the bar was legally its own country and thus exempt from taxes. The scholarly opinion was that the bar had no owner in any traditional meaning of the word. It had always been there since the beginning of the world, changing names and appearances to appeal to demons of all ages in order to further its own, malicious plans for the end of the worlds. Most scholars agreed that this was no reason not to drink a beer here.

Right now, it was about half full. Most of the patrons were shady characters, hiding their faces under hoods or skin flaps that worked like hoods, but they weren't the only group. At one table, a man in a business suit was shouting "Legen– wait for it!". Another table had a solitary Orangutan with a pile of books. The white-haired boy was part of a bar brawl in its own corner, which also involved someone with pink and someone with blue hair, who continually compared their eye shapes. They searched for Angelica and Lamia and finally found them in a corner booth.

Alaindelon always looked forward to meeting Angelica again. His job usually kept the two apart, but the reunion was always a lot of fun. Lamia, on the other hand, looked annoyed and started the conversation with "I do not want to save that Oga. I'm only doing this for the Young Master and Hilda-nee-sama."

They quietly ordered their drinks, Takayuki refusing all of Alaindelon's suggestions. The waitress seemed like a beautiful woman, but one half of her face was hidden under a white mask and her voice was a barely comprehensible slur.

When she was gone, the two girls started talking about what they had learned.

"I have looked at all the newspapers and TV news, as you suggested, but there was no mention of this anywhere." said Angelica. "However, Lamia had the idea to check the court files."

"Wait, what, court files?" asked Takayuki. "I thought they wanted a public show trial on the market place. Why would that need any paperwork?"

"What, do you think the demon world is some backwater country where everyone can just do what he wants?" asked Lamia indignantly. "We're not as squeamish as you pitiful humans, but we value contracts and promises. We invented bureaucracy!"

"…that makes a lot of sense, actually."

Lamia almost started to hit him, but was interrupted by the waitress, asking in a broken voice whether it was their table that wanted the drink "shhhhhhhhken no' strrrrr'd". She found the recipient two tables over. He looked european and wore a business suit.

"Anyway," said Kunieda-sama, trying to calm everyone down, "What did those papers say?"

"I've got a copy here" said Angelica and handed her a sheet of paper. "Only the trial date, name of the defendant - that's Oga Tatsumi, then name of the accuser - that's Akephalos, crime - high treason. But not where he is held or who is behind it all."

"It mentions a lawyer's name here," said Takayuki, reading the sheet upside down. He was so smart! "This lawyer wrote these charges, apparently. Maybe he knows who is behind this?"

"That's a great idea! Why didn't I think of that?" said Angelica. Takayuki and Kunieda-sama went red, as if they had similiar embarassing ideas, but they decided to say nothing.

"The lawyer's name is Dwojeduschnik. I have not heard of him before," said Hilda. "So I think our next task is to find him."

Dwojeduschnik? Oh. Oh indeed. That was a bit awkward. He cleared his throat. When nobody reacted, he cleared his throat again, this time louder.

"Actually, Dwojeduschnik and I have a bit of a history…"

* * *

Oga Tatsumi was many things. Strong, handsome, smart, unwilling father of a demon lord and so on. One thing he was not, never had been and never would be, was scared. Surprised, yes, or creeped out (thanks, Furuichi!), but never truly frightened. Except right now, he was at least… let's call it apprehensive. Three demons twice his size in front of him had that kind of effect.

It had started out simple enough: They had found him in the mess hall of the demonic jail, an ancient dungeon that was run like a prison in american TV shows, and demanded that he pay homage to their gang. His reply of "whatever" had not gone down well. When he couldn't remember their names and simply started calling them "Burly", "Shorty" and "Whatever that is", it only went downhill. Now his options were down to flee, punch or kick. If only Furuichi were here… he couldn't help, but hitting him would be good for Oga's mood right now.

He settled on punch, and tried it out right away. The punch would have thrown any human right through most walls. It did move Burly, by about a meter. Good, but not good enough. Burly hit back, but Oga ducked away and landed another punch in the guy's groin. Shorty used that to try something like a kick attack, but Oga wasn't entirely sure if that really was a leg. He blocked it anyway, but the amount of force pushed him over. He used the new position to kick Burly's leg away from under him, which toppled the demon over completely. Still, he didn't seem out the race yet. Suddenly, from behind, Whatever-that-is did… whatever-that-just-was. Could any of the being's tentacles account for that? Either way, it hurt. And then it opened both its mouths and showed all its large, pointy, yellowish teeth. He had to think quick now…

Suddenly, it was all over. They were surrounded by some of the uniformed guard demons that had appeared from nowhere. Shorty and Whatever-that-is found themselves in huge, strong nets, while Burly was loaded on a stretcher. Behind them, another imprisoned demon was talking to the guard demon with the most silver and gold stuff on his uniform. Probably the commander or something.

"Guys, what did I tell you about starting trouble in this jail?" asked one of the jailers. "It's to the deep dungeons for you."

"I thought we were already in the dungeons?" said Oga absent-mindedly. The stone walls and odd torture instruments on the walls kind of gave it away.

"The deep ones are deeper, if you know what I mean," said the jailer. Oga did not know what he meant, but he didn't really care, either.

"Ah, Oga-san! Sorry for the mess here," said the command guard suddenly. "We try to control the vermin, but some always slips through the cracks. Of course, you are not to blame for this incident."

"Huh?" said Oga. He had fully expected to see the deep dungeons for himself. An authority person that actually treated him nicely… he couldn't remember the last time that happened. There had to be a catch. But before he could find out what that catch was, the guards were gone again, leaving only the other prisoner behind. He looked a bit like a fish that could walk.

"Oh, it all makes sense," said the other guy upon seeing his confusion. "All this means is that they want you to look good for the trial. Cuts, bruises, bandages, all that stuff just makes the public feel sympathy for you, and they don't want to have that. If the jailers treat the criminals well, then everyone feels that they're on the side of the good guys."

"Is that normal?" asked Oga, ignoring again how demons could be both evil and good guys. Apparently it made sense to them.

"Well, usually, nobody gives a shit. But it's happened before. Especially for political cases. Treat the enemies of state right, so nobody says that they may have a point. That what you're in for?"

"None of your damn business."

"Good answer. Are you guilty?"

"None of your damn business either."

"I guess that means yes. A human contractor, that just never ends well. You humans and us demons, our goals are just too different."

Oga looked at his hand. The Zebul spell was still as gone as it had been. How did that guy know if he was a contractor? No, more importantly, what else did this guy know?

"How do I get out of here?"

The demon laughed. "You don't. Nobody ever does. You'll go to your trial, they'll sentence you, and that's it for you. If you have any family, I hope your last words to them were words of love."

Oga thought about his parents and his sister. He was not quite sure what his last words to them were, but it was probably something like "yeah, okay.", so he was good on that front. Baby Beel, well, they had watched Gohan-kun and then tried to beat up a demon, so that was okay, too. He was a bit worried about the baby, but from the sound of it, Akephathingy would at least not hurt him. And as for Hilda, he had tried to beat up Ake…whatever for her, but failed, so he wasn't sure if that counted.

Wait, was he counting Hilda as family now?

"Don't worry, my friends will break me out of here," he said to distract himself. Actually, he had no idea whether that would happen. Hilda had become less of a bitch towards him, but she still believed in sacrificing herself for Baby Beel. There was no way she would mind sacrificing him.

"What, do you think the guards are stupid, my friend? Nobody has ever managed to break in, either, of course. There are no secret passages for demonic maids around here…"

"Who said anything about a demonic maid?" Oga hoped it wasn't him. He tried to recall the last thirty seconds of the conversation. It would have been very embarrassing if the guy had answered with "you did, right now." Luckily, the demon didn't. Instead, he showed a wide, creepy smile.

"Oh, gave myself away there, didn't I? Alright, Oga-san. I wanted to hide it, but actually…"

He dug around in his pockets for a while, until he found a pen and paper. Was that allowed in this prison? To Oga's surprise, the fish demon guy pushed both at him.

"…I'm a huge fan of yours. Can I get your autograph?"

* * *

_Author's note: This chapter ended up very different from my original plan and first draft for it. I think it is better now, but that is why it took so comparatively long. For example, originally, Oga wasn't in the story at this point, just waiting in his jail cell with nothing to do. Next up, for chapter four, I have no plan at all - just a bit of exposition I still want to spew out, but making the chapter all about that would be too boring._


	4. Get Ready

_Author's note: First of all, I couldn't reply to some reviews for the last chapter because acted weirdly. So in general, a big thanks to all of you who like the story!_

* * *

The night had been bad. Part of that was down to the room they had rented. The shabby hotel over the bar did not believe in ever buying new mattresses, no matter who or what had died on them. Additionally, all members of their little group snored, or at least accused each other of doing it. Finally, for some reason, Alaindelon had decided that he had to share a bed with Furuichi, even though his own bed wasn't any worse.

But all this paled in comparison to Beelzebub's nightmares. The baby had made an effort to stay angry instead of scared, just like his father would have wanted, but it had not been easy. In bed, with nothing to focus on other than his own thoughts, it had become unbearable. Hilda had tried to console him, and he did calm down a bit when he was in her arms. Still, it was obvious that he missed Oga.

So did she. It didn't make a whole lot of sense; after all, he had been gone for less than a day, and they did not normally sleep in the same room to begin with. It wasn't the first time they were separated, either. But the idea that he might not be coming back to her… she had never been very sentimental and she wasn't about to start now, but it definitely felt wrong.

Meanwhile, Furuichi was not too concerned. Oga was in trouble, sure, but that wasn't the first time and it would not be the last. They had won against all previous challengers, including an entire demonic army, before, hadn't they? True, technically, most of that was Oga, and even for the parts that weren't, Furuichi's own role was mostly getting the competent people to the fight and then standing back. Right now, the competent people were already present, so he had no job, unless they expected him to fight. Fight against a demonic system that seemed to scare even Hilda and had managed to beat Oga. Now that did worry him.

Kunieda was worried about saving Oga, but she knew they could do it. Or at least she hoped so. How bad could the demon world be, really? No, the thing that really frightened her was the aftermath of the rescue. When Oga learned that Hilda and her had freed him, what would he do? And who would he do it with? Wait, that sounded too much like… Gaah! She was starting to misunderstand her own thoughts now.

For all Lamia cared, Oga could die. At least that was what she told herself. After all, he never had a kind word for anyone… although to be fair, he was better with actions than with words. As far as his actions went, he was constantly out to save Beelze-sama and Hilda, which was a big plus in her book. And many of his friends were kind of nice. Oh, all right, she could probably be bothered to save him, but only because she liked Hilda.

Angelica wasn't worried. She was determined. They would defeat the bad guys, save the good ones, and maybe have a little party afterwards. With those many fighters at her side, what could possibly go wrong?

Alaindelon dreamt of the Beatles; mostly _Yellow Submarine_.

* * *

Their first stop in the morning was Dwojeduschnik, the demonic lawyer. Furuichi had seen enough american TV shows about vampires in Los Angeles to know what a demonic lawyer was supposed to look like. This one failed.

The entire office was decorated in purple drapes with orange frills. The desk was purple with orange sides. The chairs for visitors had purple cloth and orange frames. It created a stark effect, to say the least. And in the middle of it all sat Dwojeduschnik, wearing a purple suit and an orange tie.

"Alaindelon, darling, so good to see you again!" said he as they were let in. That part was also curious: Dwojeduschnik would not make room in his calendar for the son of the king, but the ugly old demon was let in without any fuss. The two men kissed each other on the cheeks.

"How have you been? And you brought so many friends, it's a pleasure! Angelica, my, how you've grown!"

"Have we met before?" asked Alaindelon's beautiful daughter.

"Oh, don't break your pretty little head, darling, it was a long, long time ago. There's no shame in forgetting it. But Alaindelon, love, I have to protest. Why haven't I heard of you in ages? Surely that contractor business does not keep you that busy?"

"More than you would believe. And may I introduce my companion, Furuichi Takayuki?"

Dwojeduschnik gave Furuichi a sleazy look that he did not like one bit, then extended his hand and said "Enchanté!"

"What the hell? I am not his companion, and I…!" the boy began to protest, but he was cut off by Hilda.

"You prepared the papers for the arrest of Oga Tatsumi, human contractor of Kaiser Emperana de Beelzebub IV. I demand to know who ordered you to do this."

"Ah, Hildagarde! I have heard of you, mademoiselle. Quite an impressive resume, I must say. Now, I'm sure you understand that there all sorts of demon laws about confidentiality. You cannot go barging in here and just demanding I tell you who my clients are, no matter how pleasant the company."

"I understand." Hilda put her hand on her umbrella's hilt, but before she could even begin to draw her sword, she was restrained by a monster that looked like, and possibly was, a cross between a giraffe and a gorilla. Furuichi was fairly certain that it had not been in the office a minute ago. Dwojeduschnik just smiled on. "Now, now, Hilda, do you really think I am not prepared to handle… unpleasantness within my own office? I dare say I am perfectly able to take on all of you, if anyone gets any funny ideas. As the french say, _je ne parle pas français_."

"I do not speak french?"

"No? What a pity. You should really try to learn, it's an amazing language. Or as they say, _ma mère est un perroquet_." He gestured to the demon, who let Hilda go.

This did not calm her down. "You have no idea what you're talking about, or who you're talking to, do you? This is the son of the Great Demon King, and I am his maid. You will treat us with the proper respect, shitworm."

"Oh, some people would probably say that I am already treating you with too much respect. But let's not go there. Now, you think that your protected by the Great Demon King, and that this protection is absolute. Frankly, cherie, I'm not sure who would give you such an outrageous idea. Who knows whether he even still remembers you? And why do you think he would value your loyalty to a traitor? I do not want to rehash all the important points that Akephalos already addressed when he met you last, I just…"

Hilda spat him in the face. "I know the threats you people make, and I'm not impressed."

He nonchalantly wiped the spit from his face, shaking his head. "You really aren't, are you? Don't worry, we'll change that soon enough if you keep at it. Oh my, you must love this traitor dearly. It's disgusting."

As usual, Hilda said nothing, but all of a sudden, Kunieda jumped in, her wooden sword drawn. "Stop accusing her! Hilda is not in love with Oga!"

The lawyer shook his head. "Maybe she manages to make you think that, and maybe she thinks it herself, but the facts speak a language of their own, darling. I'm willing to bet…" He stopped for a second and looked at Kunieda, who was starting to blush.

"Oh, I see, you're in love with him! That must be awkward. You'd have my fullest sympathies if it weren't so funny. _La salle de bains est à la troisième porte à gauche_."

"What? Why? Who? No! No, I'm not!"

He ignored her and turned to addressed all the others. "I think we have said all that needed to be said. Now, ladies, gentlemen, I would not want to keep you from your other engagements. Alaindelon, Angelica, please, why don't you ditch these idiots and come visit me for a little tête-à-tête? We can relive all the old times so much better without anyone there to rat us out."

Without another word, Hilda turned around and left. The others followed, Alaindelon with an apologetic look on his face.

It was not until five hours later that Dwojeduschnik realized that he hadn't bothered to keep track of the mu-mus that the pink haired girl carried with her.

* * *

Oga did not believe in sleeplessness. No matter what happened, a real man was always able to close his eyes and doze off. He certainly had no problems with it. Nothing could ever interrupt his sleep, except for Baby Beel. The dreams, on the other hand… On waking up, he did not remember most of the last one, but apparently he had been sentenced to being the victim. That was not how courts worked, was it?

It was all so damn annoying. How could he have let this happen? What if someone attacked Baby Beel or Hilda now? Oh, right, and what about his own sentence? And finally, that damn fan wasn't doing anything to improve his mood either.

The guy had introduced himself as Ferdinand of something-or-other, recounted all of Oga's adventures in perfect detail (except he forgot Furuichi. But that didn't matter, did it?) and then never stopped pestering him. Right now, in the breakfast hall, Oga had been accosted right before he could start eating.

"I already told you, I won't sign your stupid piece of crap. You're just trying to trick me into some sort of contract, aren't you? If I sign this, I bet I'll end up having to marry you or loose my shares in Ewing Oil or whatever."

Ferdinand shook his head. "I understand, Oga-san. Your caution is probably wise. I have no intention to harm you, but these are troubling times, when one can't even trust a demon."

"I'd never trust a demon!" said Oga. After a pause, he added, "Most of them anyway." Baby Beel was too young to be bad, and Hilda had always supported him - even after he announced that he would not help her goal of destroying the demon world. Still, for all he knew, they might be the exceptions to the rule.

"Aren't you demon guys there to hurt us or tempt us or steal our souls or anything?" Oga had never really thought about the reason for demons to exist. It had something to do with evil, and being tested, and having enemies for higher level characters, right? Humans had to fight their demons and all others, and that was that.

"Of course not. Who'd tell you that?" asked the demon indignantly. "That's what you humans do. You are the ones who always tempt and trick and hurt us. The story books are full of tales where demons work for humans, and the humans cheat them out of the payment. Then everyone calls them heroes for it. And the many demons that were killed in lore, just because there were demons… is it any wonder that we never show our face on the human world anymore?"

"Huh?" That was confusing. So demons were scared of humans? Wasn't that kind of backwards? He needed Hilda to explain it all. Sure, she'd always start and end with insulting him, but at least she could tell it so people could understand it.

"But you're like… our enemies! You want to destroy the human world!"

"Absolutely. You're dangerous. Just think about the many demons you sent to the hospital. Isn't that why humans exist? As the eternal obstacles we have to overcome?"

Oga's head started to hurt. Normally, this was the point where he would either go away or start punching people, but neither was an option right now. Stupid guards. There was one thing he did know, though.

"I don't care about demons or humans. It's all the same to me. If they need to be beaten up, then I'll beat them up. Beating someone 'cause he's a demon or a human… that's just stupid. Man, you're a sucky fan, asking so many difficult questions."

Wait a second. Ferdinand really wasn't good at being a fan, was he? There was no admiration, just all these questions.

"Oy, do you work for Ake…thingy? Are you trying to trick me somehow? I'll beat you up!"

The demon began to chuckle. That was worrying. Demons chuckling was never good, unless it was Hilda about Baby Beel.

"So you finally got that I'm not a fan? Took you long enough. No, I don't work for Akephalos, or the people who he's working for. There are more sides to this issue than just you and your friends versus him and his… friends. Congratulations, you passed the first part of my employer's test. And I am very confident for the next step."

That was quite a bit to take in. Lots of questions ran through Oga's head, but he knew this kind of guy from his mangas. He would not ever give a straight answer, and you'd only find out what was going on in a week or two. He didn't want to have to deal with any of this.

"Listen, asshole. I don't give a shit about your test. All I want is to be left in peace from all you demons. Now, tell me how I can leave here, or I'll hit you right into space."

The demon wasn't fazed by any of that. "I've always wanted to go to space, but no time for that right now, sorry. I have a task for you. You can reject it, but if you follow, it may help you escape. What do you say?"

Oga stayed quiet. Why should he have to be the one to do all the talking? All this mystery and tasks was just useless. He wanted out, back home, and if possible, catch the Gohan-Kun rerun. Besides, any task was a danger. For all he knew, this guy might still be working for Ake… was it phalos? Yeah, that sounded right. Ferdinand waited for a few seconds, then sighed and continued.

"Ah, what the hell, I'll tell you anyway. Not like I can tell you anything without my superiors getting their panties in a twist. The plan is this: Tonight, an event is going down here, organized by the other side. They'll try to hide it, but I plan to add a bit chaos to the mix. Now, you can stay in your cell and ignore it all, which will leave you off just as you were before. On the other hand, if you decide to intervene… let's just say that there may be some chances for you."

This was ridiculous. Oga was just about to punch the demon in the head, as punishment for being vague, but right then, the guy started to sparkle like a sucky vampire and started to fade out. His fist hit just air.

"Remember, Oga: Tonight will be fun!"

* * *

What if Dwojeduschnik was right? For the past few hours, this question had bounced around in Aoi's mind. There was nothing else to do for her at the moment, because right now, Lamia and Koma were busy translating the Mu-mus report about what they had read in the lawyers office. That would decide their next move.

Aoi had never really thought about Hilda's feelings one way or another. She had always just assumed that Hilda was evil and incapable of love. But that wasn't true, was it? She loved Beelzebub as if she was his own mother. And if she had feelings for Oga… Aoi was maybe a delinquent by some standards, and a bit more willing to use violence than the national average, but she was not a bad girl. Only bad girls stole someone else's boyfriend. But then, Oga seemed to treat her just as a good friend and… mother of his baby. Damn, this was all so complicated.

None of this was any different in the demon world, if the bar was any indication. Sure, most of the tables were full of shady characters doing shady dealings, but a lot of space was also taken up by the people who told each other how much they missed him or her and cried sadly into their glasses. At least two of them apparently used to be a couple and looked as if they should totally get back together, but Aoi did not trust her own experience on the matter enough to actually tell them that.

"I've got it!" shouted Lamia suddenly, making everyone turn their heads. Aoi glanced at Hilda. She looked unimpressed, almost bored… but she always did that. Maybe she was just hiding her feelings.

"Dwojeduschnik was billing his time for the entire operation to a certain Claudia Institoris. Does that mean anything to any of you?"

This one did got a reaction from Hilda.

"Are you sure about that? Maybe there's a mistranslation. Or he's just using this as a decoy."

"The Mu-mus don't think so. They are very good with such things, actually. Why, is that bad?"

"Very bad," said Hilda. "She is from one of the oldest and most influential demon families. A century ago, the Institoris fought in the Great Demon War against the Great Demon King and lost. Now they are part of his personal army, but they still have a lot of influence… if they decide that Oga is a threat to the king or to Beelzebub, then they will not stop at anything to remove him, whether the king agrees or not."

"But Oga isn't a threat, is he?" said Furuichi, but he was clearly not convinced of it himself. "He's just one human."

"Don't be stupid, you creep," replied Hilda. "You know what Oga is capable of. You were there for most of it. He controls the prince, and he defeated some of the top warriors of the demon world. The Institoris would be failing in their duty if they didn't worry about him."

Aoi thought about it. It was all true; Oga's power was impressive. But still, a threat?

"He isn't a bad man, though," she said. "He wouldn't just, like, attack the king or something…"

Hilda shot her a look. Oh yes, Oga would, and Aoi knew it. The demon king was out to destroy the human world, after all. So far, he hadn't been very competent about it, but still, he was a danger to Oga and to all his friends. The delinquent was just too lazy to do anything about it. If the demon king really pressed the issue, it would just be a matter of time until the two of them fought. And she had absolutely no clue what would happen then.

From the looks on their faces, the others probably considered similar things, except for Angelica, who looked as determined as ever.

"Oh, and of course, the fact that a human gets to protect the young master instead of them hurts their pride," added Hilda. "This must not be underestimated. Now, Lamia, did you find anything else?"

Lamia nodded, but before she could answer, there was a commotion at the door, and a group of uniformed demons entered. The first one had no head, only a white cloud with a smiley face. Based on Hilda's description, this could only be Akephalos. Behind him, three other demons were trying to give off a menacing vibe, with mixed success. All of them looked differently. One appeared like a huge dog, specifically a beagle. The other seemed to consist only of perfectly coiffured hair. The final one was about Lamia's height, but sported a lot more teeth in a lot more places.

"Hildagarde… and everyone!" shouted Akephalos, out of breath. "Is that everyone? Y'all are under arrest for… I'll think of something!"

"The young master, too?" asked Hilda nonchalantly, which made Akephalos look flustered.

"Erm… eh… official custody… look, I said I'll think of something. Y'all were at Dwojeduschnik's place earlier today, and you used Mu-mus as spies. I need to know what you found out and who you told. Don't worry, if y'all are helpful, your sentences…"

He was cut off by Hilda stepping on his toe.

"Listen good, you scum. You're in a hurry and didn't prepare properly. That always makes you useless, and you know it. Leave now, and you'll survive for sure. I cannot make any guarantees beyond that. You never could take me in a fair fight."

That only made him angry.

"Ma'am, while you've been off in the human world with your boyfriend, I've been training. Don't think this match will be a repeat of five years ago. I will tear you apart."

"Noted." Before anyone could say anything else, Hilda poked him in the chest with her umbrella. Akephalos cried out and clearly had trouble remaining standing.

"Sheesh… This old wound is the most obvious point of attack for anyone who knows about it. And you didn't even bother to protect it. Like I said; if you rush things, you get sloppy."

"You bitch! Guys, get them! Kill them all, just keep the baby safe!"

Aoi drew her sword, with enhanced demonic strength thanks to Koma, and began to hit onto the next demon. Hilda did the same. Furuichi hid under a table, and Lamia get out some dangerous-looking syringes. Angelica and Alaindelon, both not big fighters, quickly cleared out the way with Beelzebub, as Akephalos's underlings drew a variety of daggers and clubs. Within a few seconds, the battle was on.

The demons must have been strong once, but they clearly had missed out on their training lately. Their movements were sluggish, and Aoi was easily able to evade most of their hits and block the others. But they weren't easy opponents: The blows almost swept her of her feet.

Hilda focused on Akephalos, swinging her sword with a might and anger that Aoi seriously hoped would never face her. Black mist began to envelop the two fighters. Akephalos was keeping up, but not able to get through Hilda's defenses.

Suddenly, Aoi felt something sting her. She looked around and saw that it was actually Lamia, smiling and holding a syringue. "Something to boost your speed! Don't waste it!" she shouted. Aoi wanted to protest, but then found that it worked. It felt as if the world was going into slow motion. She saw the little girl throw one of her mu-mus at the dog-like demon. It bounced off without any apparent harm, but all of a sudden, the dog started to sneeze and fell over. Better put Lamia on the list of demons not to cross, too.

The hair demon tried to get ahead by picking up a bar stool. That was a mistake. Most of the patrons in the bar ignored the fight, but the one who had sat on the stool most definitely didn't. It was just a tiny old woman who looked as if she was at least two hundred years old, but a hit with her handbag sent the creature flying to the other end of the room, right into another demon. This demon's cowboy hat flew off, revealing huge and ugly horns.

"Sorry, Frank!" shouted the old woman in his general direction. Frank apparently didn't blame her. Instead, he started to demand a new beer from the hairy demon, in a very physical manner.

That left only the tooth monster in her way. She tried to hit it with her sword, but it managed to bite into it and pull it out of her hands. It took a step back and then started to charge towards her. With barely any room to maneuver, she ducked to the side and held onto the sword's handle, trying to get it free. Instead, she found herself yanked away as the monster continued running. The monster was as surprised as she was. The pull suddenly changed its direction, and it ran headfirst into the bar. Aoi saw the crash. On a conservative count, the monster must have lost at least a dozen teeth. It fell over, knocked out.

Meanwhile, Hilda and Akephalos were still fighting on. Akephalos was clearly tiring, reacting slower, and getting hit more and more. Hilda, on the other hand, looked as if she was actually getting faster. She was definitely getting angrier.

"You can do it!" shouted Furuichi, still under the table. "All the others are already down!"

Hilda looked around and saw it confirmed. So did Akephalos. With a quick jump, he got out of Hilda's reach and ran away. After a few seconds, so did his underlings, but he did not pay them any attention. The fight was over.

All of them were sweating. Hilda was still angry. "Again, just leaving his friends behind… No matter what happens, I will never let the likes of him teach the young master."

That made Aoi smile, but she tried to hide it. Beelzebub, meanwhile, replied with an enthusiastic "Dabuu!"

"Is it all over?" asked Lamia. Despite her good performance, she looked a bit shaken. Aoi made a mental note to ask her age some time. Lamia was scarily good at what she did, but she was still just a little girl anyway.

"I do not think so," said Alaindelon. "Akephalos has always been very persistent. I expect he will be back in the morning, with more soldiers and better prepared."

Hilda nodded. "That seems right. So, Lamia, it is more important than ever: Do you know where Oga is being held?"

The girl nodded. "It's in the Old Imperial Dungeons Corrective Facility. He will be there until the trial."

"Oh no!" said Angelica. "I heard of this place. No transfer demon can get there."

"Well, if transfer demons could easily get into prisons, there wouldn't be much of a point to them?" asked Furuichi. Alaindelon disagreed. "There are far fewer of us than you might think, master. The king keeps strict regulations on the training and use of our powers. In fact, transfer demons are sometimes used to move prisoners from the jail to the court and back."

"Don't worry about any of that," said Hilda. "The OIDCF? I know a way in…"

This raised a lot of eyebrows, but none of the demons questioned her, and the humans were just confused.

"Now, we have to act before Akephalos reaches us again. I say we attack tonight."

* * *

Akephalos sometimes wished for a real head with a tongue, mostly for sticking it out at people or licking… things. But right now, it was just to avoid the stupid jokes. "How do you lick your wounds without a tongue?" Yeah, thanks, he heard that one before. Quite a bit too often, actually. At least the ones about the nose weren't as popular anymore.

Of course, he was not about to tell any of that to Claudia Institoris. She paid the money and brought the political power. It was her plan. So Akephalos would chuckle at the joke as if he had never heard it before, and oh yes, it was hilarious, ma'am, much obliged.

Claudia was physically unassuming. She was about twenty years old, of average height, with perfectly average looks. Not ugly, mind you, but if you saw her on the street, you'd forget her immediately afterwards again. Her glasses were plain, nice looking, and cost about ten times of what you'd think. Her t-shirt and jeans looked as if she had found them on the floor of her flat this morning. Both were probably worth more than all of Akephalos's possessions combined. Instead of hair, her head was full of flexible, poisoned spikes, arranged in a pony tail. They were just for show, though. A person like Claudia had people to do all the dirty business for her. Akephalos was proud to be one of them. He was not proud right now, though.

"Four trained warriors against a maid, a researcher, a transfer demon, two humans, a degenerate and a baby. And you come back here, beaten bloody, with none of the information you were supposed to get."

She took of her glasses and started cleaning them.

"Now, the way I see it, there are two possible reasons for this. One is that we underestimated them. There's no shame; some maids and some humans simply are that good. Just use more warriors this time, right?"

Akephalos nodded emphatically. He knew it wasn't going to help; she had her speech prepared, and she would go through with it. But not replying would be even worse.

"The other interpretation is that I overestimated you, and that you lied when you said you could take them. Again, no shame. I simply find someone competent to do the job instead. Behemoth's guys got it done, so it can't be impossible. Of course, that would make you a liability. How do you like that plan?"

"Not at all, ma'am," he replied truthfully. He was worried, and needed to think of something fast. "I know them well already. I just need more time to prepare. On familiar territory, Hilda's group had the advantage. This will not happen again. Tomorrow morning, I will take twenty of my best warriors and…"

She raised her hand, and he stopped.

"That's something you decide tomorrow. First of all, we have tonight to worry about. Now, you've got everything prepared here? There was enough time…"

He sighed. For the moment, he was off the hook. "Of course, ma'am. You can trust me here. But I will not take responsibility for the prison staff. I told you before that they are all incompetent fools."

"Unlike you, right? I can understand why you feel the need to cover your ass prematurely, but don't get political with me. If I see my underlings playing games instead of doing their jobs, then I don't reward those who play best. You should know that."

"Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry, ma'am."

"Good. Then get everything ready that isn't yet. We've got a lot to do tonight."

* * *

_My usual goal for a chapter is 2000-2500 words. This one grew to be twice that. I thought about splitting it in two and then release them a week apart, but that would be kind of mean, and the chapter doesn't really consist of two separate parts._

_The main point is to get all actors to where the plot happens next week. But along the road, there were many minor character moments that developed into bigger things. I have my doubts about the action sequence. It is necessary, but I'm not good at writing them, and I'd be very happy about suggestions for this. I'm also wondering whether I'm introducing too many new named characters; right now we have four in as many chapters. I'll try to reduce the number in the future, but I cannot guarantee that everyone will get something to do all the time._


	5. Fighting the Law

Furuichi whistled as the Old Imperial Dungeons Corrective Facility came into view. He had created many mental images of the building, but none came even close to the giant towering castle. It looked old and forbidden, full of arches, towers and walkways at sharp drop-offs. Windows were far and few between. Many surfaces were covered with rusty spikes.

"It looks like something you never ever want to be on the inside of", said Kunieda. "I guess that's the idea, too."

"The architect spent five years, just showing drawings of the building to little children, to see what would scare them the most", said Hilda. "In two hundred years, nobody ever managed to break out. Hundreds of inmates died trying."

"I am scared. Takayuki, protect me!" said Alaindelon.

"But we have a plan, right?" said Kunieda. "This place is giving me the shivers, too. I don't think we'll be able to fight our way in."

"Of course not. We will go in through the front door. After all, we're bringing a prisoner of Kaiser Emperana de Beelzebub IV himself.", said Hilda.

"Oh? And who is that supposed to be?", asked Furuichi, although he had a feeling that he wouldn't like the answer.

* * *

Getting the respect of big demons, who were in the toughest demonic jail for at least the fifth time, wasn't easy. Akephalos had quite his share of experience with that. These people wanted money, and they were willing to deal with a lot of crap to get it, but they saved their actual respect for the people who could beat them. Akephalos did not qualify. It was never a problem initially, since his money was more than good enough, but keeping such a bunch actually under control was never easy. However, listing to them, one guy they did respect was Oga. Just great…

"Look, say what you want, dude, but that Oga guy really messed up Freddie and his crew. I ain't getting on his bad side if I can help it", said one of them. He was twice as tall as Akephalos would be if he had a head, and weighed at least eight times as much. From the prison records, Akephalos knew that this one could tear down smaller buildings, with or without the inhabitants, which had landed him here to begin with. It was hard to imagine someone like him being scared of someone like Oga. Akephalos said as much.

"Listen, boy", replied the giant demon. "I ain't scared, I'm careful. The difference being that one will get you killed and the other will keep you alive. Especially if you want to use either of these words to describe me again, got it?"

"Oh, you're just a big wuss,"said the other demon. She looked like an eight year old girl with a giant hair bow. In reality, she was at least sixty years old, and the description of her crimes had come with a big red warning sign, reading "do not read if you've just eaten."

"He's just some scrawny human. And what's more, we won't be fighting him anyway. If all goes well, he'll never know what we did. So the problem isn't him. The problem is our new friend here. Can you deliver?"

At this, she turned to Akephalos, and cast him a smile that some people might call dangerous. He didn't really know; it was not as if he had big uses for smiles.

"Of course I can", he replied. "You'll get a royal family pardon, if you just rattle some bars, maybe throw a few punches… a nice little riot. The guards are in it, too, and I'll take care of the camera images. Just remember: Oga Tatsumi was the ringleader."

* * *

Kunieda knew a lot of good qualities in Hilda, as well as a lot of annoying ones. What she had never suspected were how many could be considered both. In particular, she always found the demon's maid arrogance to be particularly grating. But right now, it was proving to be a valuable asset. The demon maid simply strode into the prison as if she owned the place, something not easy to pull off when you're also carrying a naked baby.

Also an asset were Furuichi's acting skills. His aura of fear as their prisoner was incredibly convincing. Alaindelon, Angela and Lamia were all at various stages in between, but as "support troops" that was probably acceptable. Aoi only hoped that her own uneasiness didn't shine through.

The entrance desk was protected by more iron bars than normally seen outside a barbecue. Behind it, a single demon sat lazily, but stood up as he saw the little crowd appearing. He eyed them suspiciously.

"We come with a prisoner of Kaiser Emperana de Beelze…", began Hilda, but the guard cut her off.

"Where's your paperwork?" he said.

"Paperwork?" asked Hilda in her most offended voice. "Listen, man. This" – she held up Beel - "is the son of the great demon king himself. He has, through tireless efforts, captured a dangerous criminal and brought him here himself. You don't need more paperwork than that."

"Don't care. Nobody comes in without form A 38 says my boss. No offense to the royal family and all, ma'am, but without the proper paperwork, I…"

"Alright, alright" said Hilda. "So where do I get this form A 38?"

"I don't know; the people who bring prisoners always have one. You should probably ask your Lawful Officer of Legalities for the proper procedure to get a Request Official Form Letter. Then you…"

Kunieda saw how Hilda began drawing her sword from her hilt, and tensed. There was no way they were getting in through that way, and now the guards knew their faces. If they had any chance of securing Oga, they would have to act fast and…

Furuichi spoke up. "A 38? Don't you mean A 39? It's been standardized by general report B 65."

"B 65?", replied the guard cautiously. He was clearly surprised. "I ain't never heard of B 65. Maybe the department on internal memos forgot something. Hang on a second, I gotta call…"

The guard started speaking into a speakerphone, occasionally asking Furuichi something. Kunieda decided to take the moment and dragged Hilda over to a side.

"Please, tell me that this is not the quality of planning for the entire mission", she said. "I don't want to die in a demonic prison."

"What's your problem? It's working, isn't it?", said the demon defensively.

"Yeah, because our prisoner is explaining why he should go in." Aoi pointed at Furuichi, who was now discussing "the applicability of standing order 47" with two different demons. Alaindelon had taken over the guard role, although he seemed to stand a bit closer to the silver-haired delinquent than strictly necessary.

Kunieda took a deep breath, and continued at a whisper. "So what is your plan for getting out of here? Remember, we can't rely on Oga punching out everyone. If that worked, he wouldn't be in here to begin with."

Hilda smiled. "Of course not. There is an underground river, used to dispose of trash. Its normal entry is grated, but there are other ways out that the guards don't know about I only found out because the Great Demon King had lost a Pokémon card down here and I… stop that giggling!"

Kunieda obliged, although it wasn't easy. Hilda walking through the sewage like that… Still, one doubt remained.

"So we're getting in by pretending we're a prisoner transfer, then we're rescuing someone, and we get out via the garbage chute. I think I've seen that movie before."

"And it worked there, didn't it? Besides, nobody here will ever have seen it."

That sure sounded like hell, but before Kunieda could say so, Furuichi spoke out.

"Alright then! We're supposed to go to cell 47 until they've figured out the paperwork. Come along… I mean, please, don't throw me in here!"

* * *

Oga had always considered himself very knowledgeable (even if Furuichi, the idiot, disagreed. Not everyone could appreciate genius, after all). But there were still things that could surprise him. For example, he would have never thought that Hilda was the best demonic cook there was. Well, at least better than the jail food, but quite a lot of the demons around him apparently really enjoyed the meals here. And to be honest, it took a certain special skill to prepare food that was both way too spicy and way too bland.

He wondered what weirdness that fish-faced fan demon had been referring to. It was almost evening, and nothing interesting had happened yet. The other demons weren't behaving oddly either. They were all trying to look overly casual and tried to avoid eye contact with him. That was standard civilian behavior around him, so no reason to worry, right?

He stood up and turned to leave back to his cell. Suddenly, someone shouted his name. Dozens of other demons repeated the call. He turned around, but found that nobody actually seemed to care much about him.

A nearby guard approached the demons and asked them, in an overly dramatic, slow and loud voice to please stop this disquiet. He stole the odd glance at the ceiling, where Oga saw a video camera. After a few seconds, the guard had found the precise spot where he would be fully in focus, and repeated his request.

In return, a demon stepped forward, and with a great show of effort, threw his fist past the guard's head. It missed by a mile, but the guard obligingly collapsed anyway, screaming "Aarrrgh!" like a pirate.

The show was apparently over, and the rowdy demons began to leave the mess hall. Nobody seemed to care much about Oga, but they kept shouting his name.

What the fuck was going on here?

* * *

"I don't know how demons run their prisons", said Furuichi, "but I'd have expected some guards around here."

Hilda wanted to chastise him for being a fool, but sadly, he was right. Since the gate, no guards had stopped them, or even just shown their faces. It rather clashed with her memories of the place. Of course, at that time she was on an official mission from the demon king, with appropriate paperwork thanks to his advisor, and the guards did their very best to make a good impression and appear busy.

"There were some guards a minute ago", said Alaindelon. "They looked at their watches, and then they left rather hurriedly."

"Let's be on our guards then", said Kunieda. "No matter what is going on, it won't help us if it catches us unawares."

She had a point, Hilda had to admit. Once more, she cursed herself. It was her job to keep the young master away from any danger. This probably did not qualify.

Lamia checked her documents again for Oga's cell number. It hadn't changed, but clearly she wanted to help, too. Hilda wondered whether it was for Oga's benefit, or to please Beel. After a second, she realized that Lamia might also be in it for Hilda's sake.

They passed three open security doors when they saw the first signs of something happening. Two demons in prison clothes were trying to break off a radiator, or rather discussing the best way to break off the radiator so it would like random violence.

The first of them was literally as tall as he was wide and probably could have broken the radiator by walking too close to it. As he noticed Hilda's team, he expressed some surprise at the fact that visitors were in the prison, using an astonishing amount of expletives. He had not been briefed about that.

Hilda pointed out that prisoners had no right to know about this, and made a mental note to remember some of the more creative expressions, in case Oga gave her reason for using them.

The second demon was green, tiny, and clearly unhappy about the visitors.

"Dude, what are we gonna do?" he said. "I don't think they're paid off. If they say anything about what happens here, the entire thing will crumble like the king's sand castle. And I guarantee you, it's not the bigwigs with the money who'll take the fall for that."

The fat demon showed a wicked smile. "So what you're basically saying is, we should stop these little birds from singing, right? You know, I always wanted to know whether it's true what they say about demon maids. Rough on the outside, easily broken bones on the inside."

Hilda shot Kunieda a quick glance, and saw her own resolve mirrored. They both unsheathed their swords simultaneously.

* * *

Oga hadn't felt this confused since his parents held an awkward talk about birds, bees and the fact that storks weren't real. Only years later did he realize that they had meant sex. He hoped very much that this wasn't the case with the prisoners now.

The ones who shouted his name and punched guards were confusing enough. The ones who ran up to him and told him to leave them alone were baffling, too. But none were quite as difficult to understand as those who wished him well and kept saying stuff about more whiskey, better mattresses, and replacing the broken Famicom in the common room. How exactly was any of that his problem?

Still, people trusted in him, which was probably because they had realized how awesome he was. He was about to step onto a table and hold a motivating speech, when a series of loud shouts disrupted the situation. None of the demons near him had any idea what this could possibly mean, but all were certain that something truly weird had to be going on, and that you'd live longer if you stood a long way away.

He didn't need to be told twice. Within a second, the master delinquent was walking towards the source of the noise.

* * *

Hilda had seen plenty of movies where people stood on mountains of defeated enemies. What she had never realized was how hard it would be to keep your balance, especially if the mountain kept complaining that you stood on someone's nose.

Kunieda was standing by her side, doing her share in growing the mountain. But she had also become restless. She insisted that Hilda had led them to a dead end.

In theory, that was not true. They needed to get from a balcony overlooking a courtyard to another balcony overlooking the same courtyard from the opposite site. Easy enough, except that the way through the courtyard was blocked by a battle between guards and prisoners. The way through the third balcony was blocked by the incoming demons, who seemed less and less eager to go up against the "little girls", but who still would not be persuaded to move out the way. The reality of the situation was that they were stuck, thanks to Hilda's planning. Not a pleasant thought.

Suddenly, on the other balcony, a certain someone with familiar black and spiky hairs appeared. His face lit up when he saw her. Well, the entire group of them. Whether Hilda on her own would get such a reaction… She quickly decided that continuing this line of thought would not provide any benefits.

"Yo, Hilda", shouted Oga. "Do you have any plans for getting out of here?"

Of course, he had seen the problem, too, and it seemed rather unlikely that the malcontent demons blocking the way would allow him through. But now that he didn't need to be physically freed from his cell, things looked a great deal easier.

"Head to the nearest garbage chute!", she shouted, which the young master punctuated with a loud "Dah!". It was hard to see over the distance, but Oga seemed confused.

"Wait, what?", he shouted. Damn it, he doubted her strategies, too? Well, not a big surprise. Despite all they had been through together, it had mostly been him who performed the actions, while she had watched from the sidelines. He didn't really have any reason to…

"Okay, but bitch, this better work!", he shouted suddenly.

That was a relief. She had begun to doubt her abilities to lead people. It was not, after all, a skill she normally had to use as a demonic maid.

Kunieda still looked a bit doubtful, but nevertheless, she agreed. While Oga disappeared on his balcony, they went through the nearest garbage chute on their side. The mission had been a success.

* * *

The journey through the garbage system was unpleasant. The reunion wasn't. Before anyone could say anything, Beel had already sprinted to his father and was hugging him with all his might. Oga ruffled his son's hair and beamed. He looked around and saw Hilda, who looked just as pleased, but quickly tried to hide it. For half a second, he thought she would hug him, too, but that was clearly wrong. Hilda would never do that. Neither would he. At least not while people were looking.

"Erm… thanks", said Oga quietly. There was quite a lot more he wanted to say, but he didn't know how it would be received. There was a reputation he had to maintain. "I'm glad you came.", he added.

"Of course", said Hilda. "I mean, the young master wouldn't shut up, so I had to…"

Was it just Oga's impression, or was she not quite as composed as usual? He wanted to ask, but before he could, Furuichi told them all to get a move on. Apparently, he was scared.

* * *

The underground river was barely more than a trickle, and the prison guards liked to keep it that way. It had been discovered only long after the prison had been built, and it was a lot easier to keep it secret as long as it did not make any noise. Sadly, the river was not always accommodating.

Ever so often, more water came from the mountains, and the carefully maintained tiny outlet would be too little to drain it all. Thanks to decades of reinforcement, the excess water didn't manage to break it, but that only meant that the liquid found routes through the rocky terrain underneath the prison. The guards never quite managed to keep up with closing all the tiny holes that the water broke open. That was what Hilda had counted on when she designed the plan, and it seemed that the river was on her side.

The flip side of this all was that the path outside was narrow and tight. A few larger caves had formed, but most of the time, they had to walk and occasionally crawl in single file.

They were just about to enter one of these when Oga, now again with Beel on his back, told the others to go on ahead and stopped Hilda.

"I just wanted to say… you know, thank you, and…", Oga began to stutter. "Look, what I want to say is, I'm really glad that… er, no, let me start over…"

One of Hilda's oldest instincts screamed to make fun of him. All this uncertainty was not becoming of a demon lord's father. But another instinct, one she didn't know she actually had before, overrode this and told her to keep quiet and not destroy the moment.

But she needn't have bothered. A scream from one of the others broke the silence. For a second, Oga actually seemed relieved that he didn't have to say whatever it was that he apparently urgently wanted to say. Then he told her that she should wait, and he was going to check it out.

Not a chance. She waited a second, then followed behind him through the gap. After a few seconds, she saw him reach the next big cave. And then he screamed, "Stay back! That guy wasn't a fan after all!"

She looked out, and what she saw almost stopped her heart. Kunieda, Furuichi and the others were bound and gagged, watched over by fish-faced guard demons. She recognized the uniforms. Those were not guys she was happy to meet. Oga was wrestling with one of them, but it wouldn't last long. The tranquilizer dart in his thigh made that much clear.

His eyes caught hers, and she saw that he was shocked. Then, he had an idea.

"Beel, take Hilda and run!", he shouted. The young master looked pleadingly at his father for a second, but Oga was having none of it. He took him from his back and threw him at Hilda. The impact sent her flying a few meters back into the cave.

"Dah-buh!", shouted the young master. Despite being separated from his father again, he seemed happy to contribute to the plan, whatever it was.

"Now run, Hilda, run!", shouted Oga. Then he punched the wall.

Rocks began tumbling down around her as the plan became obvious. He was planning to close the route, so she and the young master could escape. Damn that stupid selfless sewer rat! Hilda had half a mind to kill him for his insolence, but sadly, the plan worked. She had to scramble to get out. The last thing she saw of him was a rare smile as the tranquilizer took over.

* * *

It was an hour later. Oga had been right when he thought that there would be a second exit. Of course, it was only a matter of time before the prison guards would find it, too, but she could be long gone by then. First, she and the young master needed to stop and think about the situation. Most importantly, they needed to catch their breath. The young master was shivering, and it took all of Hilda's power to keep him from crying.

Not that she was in much better shape. She was exhausted, dirty, and her dress was full of holes. This mission had been a total failure. She had meant to save Oga, the way he always did for everyone else. He made it look so easy. But now he and her friends, acquaintances and Furuichi were captured in a cell, with no easy way out. The only reason she and the young master got out because Oga had once again saved them, at the cost of his own freedom. The irony was not lost on her. Now she and the young master were alone, fugitives, up against people who deeply scared her.

Well, shit. What now?

* * *

_**Author's note:**__ That took a while, didn't it? Thank you for all your patience!_

_This represents a major departure from the original route that I wanted this story to take, so I am not yet sure how or when it will continue. But I guarantee that I will finish it._

_If you're interested in more discussion about what this chapter was supposed to be at the start, and why it ended up like this, I wrote a bit in the "Beelzebub Fans" forum here on ._


End file.
